


Della, Donald, and Ducklings

by AnimationAdventures



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Gen, Honorary Duck Family Member Webby Vanderquack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24254221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimationAdventures/pseuds/AnimationAdventures
Summary: Dewey spots his mom looking through the scrapbook of his and his brothers' baby photos in the middle of the night. Remembering that she missed out on their babyhood years, he and his siblings arrange things so she could experience it for a day.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 83





	Della, Donald, and Ducklings

Della, Donald, and Ducklings

Dewey was never the heaviest sleeper. He had too much energy, even when sleeping. He was fairly sure if there was a badge for sleeping correctly, Huey would get it with top marks. Louie always slept deeply, no matter how active he had been during the day.

Of him and his brothers, he was the most likely to get out of bed in the middle of the night and find something of interest.

At two in the morning, the middle triplet wandered down to the kitchen to get a drink of water only to find the light still on in the living room. Daring a peek into the room, he found his mother curled up in an armchair and asleep. Knowing how Uncle Scrooge was about wasting money, Dewey slipped into the room to flick off the lights, but the sound of something falling out of Della’s grip caught his attention.

It was one of Uncle Donald’s scrapbooks, he discovered when he picked up the book, one of the many his uncle had put together while he and his brothers were growing up on the houseboat. A lot of things went wrong for Donald Duck and his infamous bad luck, but the scrapbooks were one of few things Donald refused to let get ruined.

‘She’s looking at the baby pictures again…’ Dewey thought when he checked which volume his mom had been going through.

Once the invasion from the moon was sorted out, one of the first things Uncle Donald did was bring out the scrapbooks for Della to see. While she had made progress in forming relationships with the boys, she still had a lot to catch up on. Now it seemed like whenever she wasn’t doing Junior Woodchuck stuff with Huey, goofing off with Dewey, or watching TV with Louie, she had one of the scrapbooks in hand so she could dedicate all the boys’ special moments to memory.

Dewey set the scrapbook on the coffee table, draped a blanket over his mom, and turned off the light before heading back up to bed. As he settled in to sleep, one last thought prompted him to check his phone for the date.

‘Oh, no wonder she was looking at them.’ He realized upon seeing what day it was. ‘Mother’s Day is coming up.’

* * *

“Mom was looking at the baby photos again.”

The next morning, Dewey called together his brothers and Webby for an important meeting.

“Oh boy, not those. They’re so embarrassing,” Louie complained, mostly because they showed him at his most emotionally vulnerable and when he was less clever.

“Anyway, they made me realize that this is going to be Mom’s first Mother’s Day since she got back and she’s missed so much. I know we already planned on doing something extra special for her, but now I feel like we need to do more,” Dewey said, sitting behind his Dewey Dew-night desk.

Huey already had a notepad and pencil out. “What did you have in mind? I’ve already got the menu for Mother’s Day set with her favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’ve got her favorite video games in the morning, followed by paintball in the afternoon, and an evening flight with the family. What else could we possibly squeeze in?”

“That’s the thing. My idea doesn’t exactly take place on Mother’s Day.”

Webby rocked her feet back and forth eagerly. “Ooh, do you want to celebrate all her missed Mother’s Days by doing ten of them in a row, and end on the real one?”

Louie groaned at her suggestion. “Webby, if we did that, I think we’d all get sick of Mother’s Day. Not to mention we probably couldn’t come up with enough ways to celebrate it.”

“Guys, can I please finish?” Dewey asked, regaining control of the conversation. “I was thinking since she was looking at the baby pictures, maybe we could let her experience what her first Mother’s Day probably would have been like.”

“I am not putting on a diaper,” Huey immediately said. “I still can’t get the image of Storkules dressed up as a baby for the Harp-B-Gone commercial out of my head.” He shuddered at the memory.

“Not what I was going for, Hubert, but thanks for reminding me of Louie’s hilariously terrible commercial.” Louie made a grumbling remark about the effort he put into writing that. “What I mean is what if we could be babies for Mom again for one day so she can live out the part every parent thinks is the most important part?”

“To do that, you’d need the Fountain of Youth, but I think Uncle Scrooge is still trying to get that information from Aunt Goldie,” Webby said thoughtfully.

Dewey smirked at Webby’s comment. “Oh Webby, with all the magic relics and junk out there, we have more than one way to turn back into babies.”

“Wait, we do?” Webby blinked.

“Yerp, let me ask you guys something.” Dewey reclined back in his seat, feeling confident in his idea. “Who do we know that can grant three wishes, has phenomenal cosmic power at his disposal, and has his own room right here in the manor?”

* * *

“Good morning to you, Della. Good morning to you, Donald.” Uncle Scrooge greeted the twins as they both joined him in the dining room for breakfast.

“Morning, Uncle Scrooge,” Donald replied, setting down his eggs and bacon.

“Morning,” Della said, plunking down in her chair with a bowl and a box of cereal.

Uncle Scrooge peered over his morning newspaper at Della. “You didn’t sleep in the armchair again, did you, lass?”

Della shook her head as she filled her bowl. “Nah, not two nights in a row.” Once she added the milk, she dipped her spoon in for her first bite.

“Say, where’s the kids?” Donald wondered, digging into his eggs and noticing the empty chairs. He glanced at his uncle. “They haven’t already eaten, have they?”

“Not that I’m aware, haven’t seen any of the lads yet.” Scrooge answered, lowering his paper as he furrowed his brow. “Though it is a bit unusual. They’re usually up and running around by now.”

Dropping her spoon back into her bowl, Della got up from her seat. “Maybe we should go up and see if they’re awake. Something could be wrong.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Donald agreed, also rising.

“I’ll join you. I’m about done eating anyhow.” Scrooge folded up his newspaper, leaving it on the table.

Della knocked on the door to the boys’ bedroom. “Boys? You guys awake yet? Breakfast is ready.” She, Donald, and Scrooge waited a few moments for a reply, but nothing came. “They’re not answering.”

“Guess we need to peek inside, then,” Donald said.

Nodding in agreement, Della twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. “Boys, is everything okay in he- what the?”

“Huh?” Donald squawked, staring inside.

“What? What’s the matter, Dell-oh?” Scrooge leaned around the twins, and then he understood why they were so surprised.

The room they were looking at did not resemble the boys’ room at all. The boys’ respective corners were gone. Huey’s homework/scout desk, Dewey’s set for his online videos, and Louie’s business plans for Louie Incorporated had all vanished. Even their triple bunk bed was missing. In place of it all was a well-furnished nursery. The space that was occupied by Huey’s desk now held a rocking chair, Dewey’s set was replaced by a play area with several baby toys ready to be played with, and Louie’s corner was now home to a diaper-changing station.

“Toss me tartans,” Scrooge breathed softly, “what happened here?”

“Glad you asked, Mr. McDuck,” the three adults jumped at the increasingly familiar voice. A purple cloud formed spontaneously in the room, and Gene the Genie emerged with a bright smile.

“Gene? You’re out of your room,” Della remarked in surprise.

After the Quack Pack incident, Gene happily returned to Duckburg with the McDuck clan and Goofy. In return for fixing the mess and giving Donald the family photo he wanted, an arrangement was made that allowed Gene to keep his powers but gave him more freedom from his lamp. Since he was capable of rational thought and independence, Scrooge allowed Gene his own room in the manor instead of housing him down in the Other Bin with other potentially dangerous magic artifacts. He especially agreed when Gene assured him he could live on his own means of magic to conjure up necessities.

Donald looked around the room and pointed at Gene. “Did you do all this?”

“Yep,” Gene answered proudly, conjuring up a magazine and flipping through it. “I had to do a little research considering how behind the times I was when I formed Quack Pack, but I think I nailed it this time. What do you think?” He held up a page of the magazine, showing the picture of a modern nursery.

“What do we think?” Scrooge repeated, incredulous. “You turned the boys’ bedroom into a bedroom for a wee bairn! Why?”

“Because the kids asked me to do it,” Gene answered, conjuring the magazine away.

“The kids?” Donald parroted, even though he was a duck. “They asked you?”

“That’s right. Oh, and they asked me to give you this, Miss Duck.” Sliding something out of his sleeve, he passed it over to Della.

Della looked it over. Gene had given her a card. Opening it, she found a message written inside.

_Hey Mom,_

_We know that since you were on the moon, you missed all the big milestones that parents don’t want to miss with their kids. So before we celebrate Mother’s Day, we wanted to allow you the chance to care for us like you wish you could have. It was Dewey’s idea after he saw you with Uncle Donald’s scrapbook. We put together this plan with Gene, and for the next twenty-four hours, we’ll be your babies again. Don’t worry about the details, Gene handled stuff like toys and supplies. Hope you enjoy the experience, and we’ll talk once the twenty-four hours are over._

_Your boys,_

_Huey, Dewey, and Louie._

“They did this for me?” Della felt tears well up in her eyes. She had dreamed for years of holding her little boys, and now she would get the chance?

“Where are the kids?” Scrooge asked, looking around.

Gene jabbed his thumb at a corner of the room. “In the crib. Speaking of which, congrats on your quadruplets again.”

The three adults finally noticed that the boys’ triple bunk had been replaced by a crib. They wandered over and found four little ducklings, all dressed in onesies in their signature colors, curled up and asleep. Wait… four?

“Is that Webby?” Donald inquired, motioning to the fourth duckling.

Gene hovered over, flashing his golden eyes. “You sound surprised. Aren’t there supposed to be four?”

“I laid Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s eggs, but not Webby’s,” Della informed him. She shrugged. “She fits into our family so well though that we joke that I laid her egg and we all forgot.”

Scrooge glanced down at Webby’s sleeping form. “We should probably inform Beakley what happened, in any case. Just our family’s luck that she’s gone today.”

“I can change her back if you’d like me to,” Gene offered.

“No, it’s fine,” Della said, waving off the suggestion. “Besides, four is better than three.”

“Are you sure about this, Della?” Donald checked. “Four is a lot to juggle, and I speak from practice in caring for three.”

“It’s only for today, they said so on the card,” Della reminded him, waving the card. “Don’t you wish you could spend one more day when the kids were still little?”

“Every day,” Donald said instantly. Despite the chaos of caring for three babies at once, he didn’t regret any of it, only wishing his sister could feel the joy with him.

Scrooge hummed, looking between his niece and nephew. “Sounds like you two know what you’re doing today. I wish I could join you, but I’ve got work at the bin. I’ll try to get home early so I can help out.” The twins stared at him in surprise. “What? Della’s not the only one who missed out with the wee bairns.” Turning to leave for work, Scrooge called out, “Have fun! I’ll be back this afternoon.”

“So,” Gene floated between the two remaining adults, “the kids are set to wake up in… five minutes.” He checked a watch he pulled out of nowhere before nodding to himself. “Five minutes. Should I leave you to your temporary ducklings?”

“Sure, we can take it from here. And thanks for helping make this happen, Gene,” Della thanked the genie. “Because of you, I’ll really get to know what I missed out on.”

“No problem, Miss Duck,” Gene winked at her. “Like the kids said on the card, I’ve taken care of everything. Bottles, baby food, clothes, diapers, it’s all in the closet.” He pointed at the closet, the only thing that remained the same through the short-lived makeover. “A stroller, a diaper bag, and a few other things are in there too if you want to take them out for a walk or something. Like Mr. McDuck said, have fun. If you need anything, you know where to find me. Shabooey!” In his signature burst of purple smoke, he left the twins alone with the ducklings.

“Well, we still have a few minutes before they wake up,” Della said once the genie was gone. “What do we do first?”

Donald looked between his sister and the sleeping babies, and grinned as an idea came to him. “We could take some pictures of you with the kids.” He pulled his phone out, waving it slightly for example. “That way, you have some pictures of you with them while they’re little.”

Della returned the smile. “I like the way you think.”

One impromptu photoshoot later, in which Donald got pictures of Della holding each sleeping baby along with a few group shots with Della overlooking the crib, the ducklings began to awaken. Dewey was the first, and Della scooped him up before he could accidentally smack his siblings with his flailing limbs.

“Aw, good morning my little dewdrop,” Della cooed, giving him a little belly tickle that had him giggling. “Sleep well?”

Donald hummed affirmatively. “Just like the first time around. Sure, Huey hatched first, but Dewey was always awake before him.”

Huey was next to wake up, announcing his awakening by making little fussy noises.

“Here, take Dewey.” Della handed Dewey over to Donald, and then lifted Huey out of the crib. “How’s my little woodchuck?” Della let out a thoughtful hum as she gazed down at her eldest. “Seems like he’s missing something…”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Donald. Still holding Dewey, he went over to the closet and rummaged around in it before finding what he was looking for. He held out a small, red hat to his sister.

Della accepted the hat, putting it onto Huey’s little head. “That’s it. Good call, Donald.”

Webby opened her eyes in the crib and began reaching out for Della and Donald the moment she realized they were there.

“You want upsies?” Della teased the girl duckling, reaching in for her after she passed Huey to Donald. “There we go. You’re ready for a full day of fun, aren’t you?” Webby answered her question by tugging on Della’s scarf.

“Okay, if I remember right,” Donald started to say, “Louie will stay asleep for another few minutes. That should give us a bit of time to start breakfast. Since these guys are already awake, they’re probably hungry.” He nodded down at Huey, Dewey, and Webby.

“In that case, we should check out the stuff that Gene left for us.” Della carried Webby over to the closet, and she and Donald began looking over their supplies.

With the mansion being so huge compared to regular houses in Duckburg, getting everything they needed for breakfast down to the kitchen was a bit of a hike. Especially with four babies to tow along. They set up the high chairs right away so they would have somewhere to seat the babies while they got breakfast ready. Donald was able to estimate how old they were supposed to be in their current state, and informed his sister of everything they could safely consume.

They gave them small bowls of dry cereal while they finished off their breakfasts they had left earlier. It was interesting to the twins to see how different they were just on how they ate. Huey diligently ate his cereal piece by piece, Webby was the same but a little sloppier due to dropping some on the floor accidentally, Dewey played with his food more than ate it, and Louie only ate a few initial pieces before refusing to eat more. Donald suspected Louie wanted to be fed rather than eat on his own. Seeing as they were only going to be babies for the day, Della was more than happy to indulge. The sailor had to admit it was cute watching his sister fuss over her kids like she could have years earlier if she hadn’t crashed on the moon.

After breakfast, Della cleaned up the kids while Donald made a call to Mrs. Beakley like Uncle Scrooge had suggested to inform her about the situation and possibly get tips on what Webby was like as a baby.

“Uh huh, uh huh, right,” Donald said, listening to Mrs. Beakley’s instructions. “Thanks! See you tomorrow.”

Della looked up from where she was cradling Louie. “What’d she say?”

“Just what we’ve figured out so far,” Donald reported, sitting down and letting Dewey play with his finger. “She’s a grabber and she eats well, among other things. She also likes to snuggle with a doll in a pink dress and won’t fall asleep without it.” He furrowed his brow. “I’ve only been in Webby’s room a handful of times, and I think the doll Mrs. B mentioned is currently hung up on Webby’s wall by an arrow.”

“Cute.” She glanced over at Webby, almost not believing that duckling grew up into the fierce girl she knew. “I guess now they play for a while?”

“Pretty much. I’ll go get some toys from the nursery; you move them into the living room.”

* * *

Scrooge returned to his office after a meeting with Zan Owlson about the charity between his and Glomgold’s companies, and settled into replying to offers for potential business deals and other investments.

He had just scribbled down his signature on an approval for a project when his cellphone buzzed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the outdated model and flipped it open. A smile spread across his beak when he saw what he had received.

Donald had sent him one of the many pictures of Della and the kids he had taken that morning. It was a decade late, but it still warmed his heart to see Della embracing the beginning stages of motherhood. Sending a reply, he moved onto answering the next piece of mail. He wanted to work through everything as quickly yet efficiently as he could so he could head home and join them.

* * *

Back at the mansion, Donald was sure his heart would burst from how much it was figuratively swelling. His phone in hand and ready to capture all precious moments, he watched Della play with the kids so enthusiastically.

Huey and Webby played with the two sets of blocks that Gene had provided; Huey had the ones with the letters and numbers while Webby took the ones with colors and patterns. Originally, he had brought down one set for them to share, but Huey’s methodical nature clashed with Webby’s chaotic one too much. To appease them both, Donald took Gene up on his offer for additional help and had him conjure up the patterned blocks for Webby. Dewey was fixated on the rattle in his hand, delightfully banging it against Della’s metal leg after discovering he liked the sound it made. Louie decided long after breakfast was finished that he was ready to put things in his mouth on his own, slobbering on a toy ring. In a display that amazed Donald, Della seamlessly switched her attention from one duckling to the next as she played with them.

“Great spelling, Huey,” she praised her oldest after he used his blocks to spell out a nonsensical word that Donald and Della knew didn’t exist. Webby toddled over, a patterned block in hand. “That looks nice, Webby. Thank you.” She accepted the block, and checked on Dewey after Webby wandered back to her other blocks. “That’s a catchy tune you’re playing, Dewey. Let me guess- the Dewey Dew-night theme?” Louie let out a cry over where he was playing, dropping the ring. “Louie? What’s wrong?” Setting Dewey aside so she could get up, she went over to check on her youngest. She picked him up and checked him over, noticing an odor. “Oh, honey… Tell Mommy you didn’t do what I think you did…”

Donald sighed, getting up from the couch to join her. “Just like the first time around too. Even though he’s slower on everything else, he was always the first to do this.” He held out his arms. “Want me to change him?”

“No, things like this should’ve been my responsibility from the start. I’ll take this one,” Della answered, shaking her head. She did give her brother a meaningful look afterwards. “Mind teaching me? I kinda forgot how.”

“Sure, let’s round up the others first. If Louie had an accident, the others are probably close behind. Better to have them all there just in case.” Donald gathered up Huey and Webby while Della picked up Dewey.

In the nursery, they set Huey, Dewey, and Webby down in the play corner where the rest of the toys were while Louie was laid on the changing table.

“Okay, first thing we’re going to do is get him out of his onesie so we can have an easier time changing him.” Donald instructed, and Della followed his words, unbuttoning Louie’s green onesie.

“Oh boy,” Della grimaced once Louie was out, the stench growing stronger once it was exposed to air.

Donald sympathized with her reaction. “Yeah, this is the one part I didn’t miss from these days. Now imagine this times three.”

Della shuddered, looking at her brother. “Sorry for putting you through that alone.”

“Eh, I learned to deal with it,” Donald waved off the apology. “Now, let’s move onto the next step.”

She let him walk her through the process, only letting him step in so he could show her how to wipe thoroughly and how much baby powder to use. Unfortunately, Louie wasn’t a fan of either of those things.

“Huh, didn’t think he’d object to lying still.” She observed as Louie kept squirming while she tried to apply a new diaper.

“Yeah, sometimes they need a distraction to keep them from moving.” Donald reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. “Louie will always stay still if you wave this in front of his face.” Showing his sister by example, he wagged the billfold over Louie’s eyes. The youngest nephew stopped resisting once he caught sight of the object.

Della raised an eyebrow, but taped up the diaper while she had the chance. “Why?”

Donald shrugged, pocketing his wallet. “Could be his genetic love for money. Or he saw me take cash out of it, and since cash is green…”

“I see.” Della buttoned Louie back up in his onesie, and lifted him off the changing table. “Mind checking if the others need changing?”

In the time it took changing Louie, both Huey and Dewey had used theirs. The twins suffered through the stink twice more, and just as they finished up with the third of the triplets, Webby announced through a loud cry that she had used hers too. Della changed all three of them without help from Donald, feeling the need to make up for all the diaper changes she missed.

They returned to the living room to play more, and Donald turned on Ottoman Empire for some background noise. After some more playtime, Dewey began to cry, setting off all four of them. Donald deduced it was lunch time.

“We’ll give them bottles for lunch. They need fluids,” Donald said as they carried the ducklings into the dining room. Della set them up in their chairs while Donald went up to the nursery to retrieve the bottles and formula. Once Donald returned with the necessary supplies, he gave Della a lesson on preparing bottles.

Several minutes later, all four ducklings were drinking from their bottles. One by one, they finished their bottles and were burped. Quickly after completing his bottle, Louie nodded off.

Della nodded at her youngest even though he wasn’t awake anymore. “Totally get you, buddy. I’d want to take a nap too when I have a full belly.”

“Huey and Dewey won’t fall asleep until a little later, but they’ll still wake up around the same time Louie does. They and Webby can play for a little while before we lay them down too,” Donald told her. He took Louie from Della, and carried him up to the nursery while Della returned the other three back to the living room. They had been playing for a few minutes when Donald walked back in, holding a baby monitor. “Now we can listen for when he wakes up.”

Huey and Dewey lasted half an hour before the twins noticed they were beginning to fall asleep. Webby was also playing a bit more sluggishly than normal, so all three of them joined Louie in the crib for nap time. To their relief, Webby ended up not needing the doll from her wall. While the ducklings slept, Donald and Della used the time to make some lunch for themselves. The baby monitor between them, the twins sat at the long dining room table, nibbling at some sandwiches.

Della looked at the high chairs while eating a bite, and spoke up, “Tell me about them when they hatched again.”

Smiling at her request, Donald swallowed. “You had been gone maybe two weeks, and the sun had gone down. I knew they were due to hatch at any moment, but it didn’t make the wait any less nerve wracking.” Leaning back in his chair, he thought back on his memories. “Suddenly I hear a little cracking noise, and I look over to them while I’m filling out some stuff on my computer, and I see two of the eggs starting to crack. Huey popped out of his egg first, looking around with that sense of curiosity he always had and wondering what kind of world he had stumbled into.” He chuckled a little, getting his sister to do the same. “Right when I got him in my arms, Dewey broke out of his three seconds later, looking around like Huey was, except he wasn’t curious, he was already looking for his first big adventure.” His eyes became a little wistful. “The rest of that hour was the most wonderful but also the most worrying in my life. Louie has always been slower to do everything, but that had to be the slowest he ever was. Nearly fifty minutes after Dewey hatched, he finally slipped out of his egg. He reacted differently to the world from Huey and Dewey, he didn’t look around for anything interesting or dangerous. No, he fell asleep like he was exhausted just from getting out of the egg.”

The twins shared a bigger laugh, thankful that the baby monitor was set to one-way so they didn’t disturb the ducklings.

Della wiped a tear from her eye. “I’ll never get tired of that story.”

“Me neither,” Donald agreed.

Della glanced at the high chairs again, her thoughts turning to the fourth chair. “You know how we joke that I laid Webby’s egg?”

“Yeah?”

“Imagine if I did,” Della said, thinking. “Imagine if she hatched with the boys. When do you think she would have hatched? I want to say she would hatch third, maybe three minutes after Dewey.”

Donald thought about the scenario for a moment. “She’s pretty close with all the boys. I’d say she would hatch halfway between Dewey and Louie, so maybe twenty-five minutes.” He snorted. “She’d probably jump out of her egg and cling to my beak as a greeting.”

Della laughed along with her brother. “I can see that. She grabs onto your beak, looks you straight in the eye, and babbles ‘Hi, I’m Webby’ in baby talk. Ooh, or she punches you or kicks you the moment you pick her up.”

The two of them roared with laughter at the idea of little baby Webby being aggressive right out of the egg. Della pounded the table, unable to control herself. After a few minutes, they both calmed down.

“So,” Donald changed the subject, “we still have a while before they wake up from their nap. What do you want to do now?”

* * *

Scrooge arrived home two hours before he usually would. Nobody questioned why the boss was leaving early, not even his rigid board of directors. Launchpad dropped him off at the front door before heading to crash the limo in the garage.

“Lads!” Scrooge hollered as he stepped into the foyer.

“Living room, Uncle Scrooge!” Della replied just as loudly.

He wandered into the living room to find his niece and nephew playing with the ducklings. Huey was toddling after a ball Donald rolled around the room, and would pick it up with his pudgy baby fingers to take it back over to his uncle. Dewey was collecting all the blue blocks he could find, Della bounced Webby on her good leg, and Louie appeared content just to lay against Donald.

“How have my wee nephews and niece been today?” Scrooge greeted them, sitting down on the couch beside Della.

“According to Donald, just like the old days,” Della answered with a smile. She noticed Webby’s attention drifting over to Scrooge, clearly noticing someone new had joined their playtime. “Look, Webby! Uncle Scrooge is home. Want to say hi?”

Scrooge grinned knowingly. “I think she does. Pass the lass over.” Setting his cane aside, he gestured for the little girl. An arm around her and a hand under her head, Scrooge gazed down at her. “Bless me bagpipes, have you ever seen anything more beautiful? Ouch!” While Scrooge was cradling her, Webby reached up and yanked on his whiskers. “Or painful…”

Della giggled behind a hand. “Yeah, Mrs. B warned us about her. She likes to grab things.” Looking down at her feet, she found Dewey coming over to see who was on the couch with her. “Hey, Dewey. Look who’s home!” Picking up her son so he could see his great uncle, she recoiled when she smelled him. “Oh no… Dewey, Uncle Scrooge just got home and that’s how you want to greet him?” Shaking her head, she got up from the couch. “We’ll be right back. Dewey made an ewwy.”

Scrooge watched Della leave the room to change Dewey, the duckling in blue staring back at him over Della’s shoulder. When he heard them heading up the stairs, he turned to Donald. “How did it go with Della today?” Webby attempted to grab at his whiskers again, but he distracted her by tickling her tummy.

“It went really well,” Donald said, bringing Louie up into a cradle like Scrooge had Webby. “I showed her how to do a few things, and she paid really close attention so she could do them on her own. She would’ve done a great job back then.”

“I knew she would,” Scrooge replied, a confident smile on his beak. Huey waddled over and tapped Scrooge on the leg. Feeling the prod, Scrooge glanced down at his eldest great-nephew. “Afternoon there, Huey. Good day?” Huey babbled something, falling onto his bottom and giggling as he stared up at his great uncle. “Good to hear, lad.”

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, transitioning into the evening. Scrooge stepped in for Donald to watch over the kids with Della while Donald prepared dinner since Beakley wasn’t home and Duckworth was somewhere doing ghost things. Of the three adults, Donald was the most capable. Della was ten years out of practice but trying to re-learn every day, and Scrooge was far too busy to keep his cooking skills in good form.

Della showed some of the pictures Donald had taken during the day with her uncle, and Scrooge shared his own two cents on his niece and nephew’s hypothetical scenario about Webby hatching with the boys over dinner. He had a good chuckle about what they thought would happen when she got out of the egg.

After dinner was cleaned up, they briefly debated if the kids should be given a bath before agreeing that they probably could use it. If Dewey was the troublemaker during meal times, and Louie was difficult while getting changed, then it was only natural for Della to guess Huey made baths a chore. To say Huey did not like baths as a baby was an understatement. From the moment he saw the sink filled with water, he was not having any of it. His Duck family temper came out, getting water everywhere but the sink, and he got the shampoo at one point, getting it all over Della and Donald’s clothes. It was a good thing Dewey, Louie, and Webby were bathed first.

When Donald declared bedtime for the ducklings, they gathered in the nursery so Della could read a bedtime story to them. Louie dozed off first, followed by Dewey, and then Webby. To their surprise, Huey did not fall asleep.

“What do we do now?” Scrooge asked the twins. “Read him another story? Perhaps he didn’t like the one you picked.”

Donald hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe we need to ask Gene to conjure up some other stories. He only gave us the one book.” He held up the book Della had just finished reading.

Glancing at her son cradled in her arms, Della spoke up, “I might have an idea.” Adjusting her hold on Huey, she pulled out her Junior Woodchuck guidebook. “Nothing puts someone to sleep more than rules and facts.”

Donald and Scrooge watched as Della sat and read the guidebook with Huey in the rocking chair. It was a testament to Della’s idea when they were nearly drifting off themselves at the same time Huey finally went to sleep. Della laid him in the crib with his brothers and Webby, kissing each of them on the forehead.

“Good night, kids. See you in the morning,” she said softly.

She, Donald, and Scrooge slipped out with Della giving the crib a final fond look before closing the door.

The next morning, Donald got up early enough to make pancakes for everyone. He was starting to serve them to Della and Scrooge when the kids wandered in, back to their normal age. When Della saw them, she hopped out of her chair to give all four of them a big hug.

“You kids are the best!” She said as she embraced them. Pulling away after the moment passed, she returned to her seat as they took theirs. “Do you remember anything of yesterday?”

“Not really,” Huey admitted, “it’s all kind of a blur. Which kinda makes sense since babies at that age don’t have very strong recall ability yet.”

“I think you hugging us just now stirred some feeling of being held, but that’s as much as I can remember,” Louie stated, focusing on dousing his pancakes in syrup.

Webby shrugged at Della’s question. “All I know is I feel so rested up, I may have slept like a baby.” She let out a snicker at her own comment. “Which might’ve been the actual case for half the night.”

Dewey smiled at his mother. “The most important thing is that you had a good time taking care of us.” He frowned in concern for a moment. “You did have a good time, didn’t you?”

“I did,” she assured him, getting all the kids to smile back. “I really did. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do that, even if it was just for a day.”

Donald raised a finger to add, “And if you ever get turned into babies again, can you at least try to give us a heads up first?”

“We’ll try, Uncle Donald. Promise,” Huey vowed, holding up a hand on Woodchuck’s honor.

Scrooge smirked over his newspaper. “Knowing this family, next time this happens, you’ll be wee bairns for a week.”

Della popped a slice of pancake into her mouth, giving her uncle a daring look. “I could handle a week.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Did I really just write nearly six thousand words of Della getting to enjoy early motherhood for a day so I could have Della interact with her babies and touch on some of my baby duck headcanons? Yes I did. Also, Webby is Della's foster daughter/niece now. No arguments.
> 
> Okay, headcanons! 
> 
> Huey- was the cleanest eater of the triplets, ironically did not like bath time, and him falling asleep to someone reading the Junior Woodchuck guidebook is his older self's personality surfacing in that moment.
> 
> Dewey- messiest eater, was always the first to wake up, liked all blue toys.
> 
> Louie- slowest at mostly everything, once saw Donald take money out of his wallet to pay for something at the store and would stop whatever he was doing to stare at it every time he saw it afterwards, Donald sometimes used it to convince Louie to lay still during diaper changes.
> 
> Webby- was a grabber, usually slept with her Quacky Patch doll but didn't here because her older self's personality was leaking through, the family jokes that Della laid her egg and they forgot, and if she did hatch with the boys, she'd hatch halfway between them because she loves them all equally.
> 
> I kinda want to do a sequel to this where the kids would become babies again for a week, only usual DuckTales shenanigans would get involved but I have no idea what kind of chaos to create. Maybe Launchpad wants to have fun with baby Dewey and he gets lost, Huey winds up in the care of Team Science somehow, I dunno. Any ideas?


End file.
